HomeForumsWhat's newResources 
 
 
Spotty working Saturn mod...help please
slave1 - Aug 14, 2003

 1  2  Next> 

  slave1 Aug 14, 2003
I received my modchip from Jandaman yesterday (it took a mere 3 days to arrive!) and proceeded to install. I have a 64 pin model 2 MK80000A. It worked fine last night after I installed it, but today it just seems to only read audio tracks. These are the same backups it was reading fine just last night. Any ideas what could be wrong? I should note that I soldered the blue wire to the 64 pin chip successfully and have a good soldered connection to the psu (red wire). Also, my modchip is facing away from the cd drive, I had a twisted ribbon cable but it all worked last night. Any ideas?

 Scared0o0Rabbit Aug 14, 2003
jandaman has mods that work in 64pin saturns? news to me. In any case, I'd double check all your connections, make sure they are secure and not bridging anything. Also, is this the same disc you tested it with last night? If not it may be that the disc is bad, and if it's saying disc not suitable for this system or whatever, it means that you need to change the region.

 slave1 Aug 14, 2003
My ribbon cable is 21 pin. On the cd board the IC is 64 pin. I soldered to the 8th pin there, like the tutorials say. The mod worked. I have 4 cdrs that I tested it with, they all worked last night (as did originals). Today they don't work. But originals do. However, if I fool around with it long enough it will eventually boot a cdr. Oh yeah the cdr's are the correct region.

 slave1 Aug 14, 2003
Ok what the hell. Does this make sense and if it does, please explain it to me. It seems that if I insert a cdr with a bit more pressure than normal, it will boot no problem. What could possibly be wrong here?

 Dyne Aug 14, 2003
closer to the laser is all i could imagine?

 chubbito666 Aug 14, 2003
I agree, seems the laser may be having a hard time reading it. Could be the type of media you are using, but my Saturns never been too picky. Also, the fact that you said if you press down it works, maybe you didnt tighten a few of the screws down enough, but that may be unlikely to cause problems, as you can play games with the top of the case off anyway.. but maybe worth a try.

 slave1 Aug 14, 2003
I'm using blue bottomed Verbatim 700mb btw. I've had pretty good luck with them but I'm new to Saturn burning as of just a couple days now. It seems that it is still a bit spotty though, since my previous post cdrs simply dont boot up every time. Originals boot up no problems, FMV plays properly when it does boot. I am completely stumped.

 Scared0o0Rabbit Aug 14, 2003
what speed you burning at? What program you using?

 slave1 Aug 14, 2003
I make bin/cue with cdrwin and burn with nero at 4x on a Yamaha 8x8x24. I would burn with cdrwin but for some reason I can only read with cdrwin, not write. .

 slinga Aug 15, 2003
Slave1: Can explain which way the mod has to face? I have a 64 pin saturn, and I also ordered a mod chip from Jandaman. I was hoping to use Mal's A+B method though.

 slave1 Aug 15, 2003
My ribbon cable was twisted, and my mod would only work facing away from the cd drive. So my ribbon cable now twists and then goes over the top of the mod board. Thus, my mod board wont stand up straight, it seems to be getting pushed slightly to the left because of the ribbon cable. I'm wondering if this is the cause of it not booting everytime... I didn't know about the a-b mod until after I had put it back together...soldering that 64 pin IC was really tough for me. I wonder if the a-b mod would help my situation.

 mal Aug 15, 2003
Yeah, the modboard has to have the component side facing the 'outside' of the Saturn on any 64 pin Saturn.

The ribbon cable socket on the mainboard is around the other way for some reason...

 slave1 Aug 15, 2003
Mal, since your here can you read over this thread and possibly give me any ideas as to why my Saturn is only booting cdrs sometimes? Note that it does boot originals without fail. It's just flaky with cdrs.

 Pyrite Aug 15, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by slave1@Aug 14, 2003 @ 08:50 PM



 I'm using blue bottomed Verbatim 700mb btw. I've had pretty good luck with them but I'm new to Saturn burning as of just a couple days now. It seems that it is still a bit spotty though, since my previous post cdrs simply dont boot up every time. Originals boot up no problems, FMV plays properly when it does boot. I am completely stumped.


Try using silver cdr´s I use cheap @$$ mitsai or sony maybe you saturn doesn´t like that brand

 mal Aug 17, 2003
If it were acting flaky with all discs, I'd say it was something to do with the mod or the way it was installed. Seeing as it's fine with originals, but sometimes plays up with CDRs, I'd guess that it's something to do with the way you're burning them, or the media they are on.

 IBarracudaI Aug 17, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by slave1@Aug 15, 2003 @ 04:25 PM



 Thus, my mod board wont stand up straight, it seems to be getting pushed slightly to the left because of the ribbon cable.


Humm, try keeping it straight

 slave1 Aug 17, 2003
How would I keep the mod board straight? Electrical tape? And Mal, what cdr brand would you suggest?

 IBarracudaI Aug 18, 2003
I have mine pushed to the left (I have a non-twisted one) with a rubber... yeah that things you use to erase things at school :lol:

 slave1 Aug 21, 2003
Well after several days with Jandamans mod installed this is what it does. (Please read my first post for all of my particular Saturn info)... When I first installed the modboard, it would boot cdrs and originals just fine. However, the next day it started to not like my cdrs but would still boot originals no problem. Well after several days now it treats cdrs AND originals like audio cds. BUT, if I hit reset 4 - 5 times, it will eventually boot the game (cdr and original).

In the past few days, I have tried using several different cdrs: Verbatim, Maxell, TDK, Philips, and Sony. Every game was burned at 4x on a Yamaha burner. It wont let me burn at 2x for some reason so I have tried burning at 1x and the Saturn seems to struggle really bad to boot a game burned at 1x. Anyway, it will boot every cdr I make, but I have to reset or power off/on several times to get it to boot.

In addition, I have tried both install methods: soldering the 8th pin, and removing that and bridging the A-B on modboard. In both cases, the Saturn behaves the same as described above. I have also tried the 0014/0019 and only the 0014 works. I even cleaned the ribbon cable connectors thouroughly.

Further, I tried adjusting the laser lens but to no avail.

It seems that if I add pressure to the modboard and hold it then it will boot fisrt try, but it's in as far as it will go, I have tried it in several different positions/angles.

I'm at the end of my rope. Should I get another Saturn or should I get another modboard? Please help.

 Alexvrb Aug 22, 2003
I would recheck your mod's power wire on both ends. Make sure you just have the wire soldered to the top part of the 5v pin, and not going down in it, making poor contact or anything. I had a spotty working mod for a while, and I thought it was the CD unit becoming unreliable since I had to reset a random amount of times from 1-5. Turned out the wire had become loose, and then when I fixed that side the damn wire broke on the modchip side. So I re-soldered that side too, and haven't had any trouble since. I also used electrical tape at a few points to tape the wire down the to bottom so it won't move around.

 1  2  Next>